Buck was exhausted. He looked over at Teaspoon and knew he was feeling it too. They had been tracking bank robbers for several days and were finally on the way home. Teaspoon sent Jimmy and Kid ahead with the prisoners and now he and Buck were on their way home.
"You gonna ask Rachel to marry you?" Buck asked slyly.
"Now, Buck, why mess with a good thing?" Teaspoon asked rhetorically. "Rachel and I are getting along so well. I think it would ruin it if we got married."
"I used to think that way too," Buck said. "I used to think things would change for the worse and then Paulina and I got married and things got better. Now we have a daughter and life is good."
"Buck, I've been married six times before," Teaspoon said. "If there's one thing I have learned it is this. Nothing ruins a relationship with me quicker than to get married."
Buck laughed. "I don't think Rachel would say 'no' if you asked her," he noted.
"I'm too set in my ways," Teaspoon claimed. "I'm not as easy going as you lot. Where did you meet that wife of yours again?"
"At a train station," Buck said.
"At a train station," Teaspoon repeated. "See, you youngins do things much the same as an old coot like me."
"Well, I'm not going to get married six times," Buck said. "I didn't think I would get married once, but I found the one woman for me."
"At a train station," Teaspoon teased.
"At a train station," Buck confirmed. "I guess it proves that love will catch you anywhere. Like you and Rachel."
Teaspoon waved his hand at the man that rode beside him indicating he didn't want to talk anymore about it.
Not much had changed between the men. Buck still looked nearly like he did at the time the Express ended. His hair was a bit longer, but it was still the same. He had a new hat. Paulina insisted that his tattered hat needed replacing. His newer one still resembled the old one. Buck was very set in his ways about clothing. He still favored shirts in hues of purple, blue, or gray.
Teaspoon had not changed much either. He still wore his black derby with the laces around the edge. A bit more of the lacing had become frayed and loose, but Teaspoon like his hat and wouldn't wear a new one. Rachel had purchased a couple as gifts, but Teaspoon was not really interested. His hair was grayer and his skin a bit more weathered, but he was still as spry as the day Buck had met him.
"Weren't you supposed to meet your wife at the train station this week?" Teaspoon asked breaking the silence.
"Yes, and when you asked me to help you track those bank robbers, I sent her a telegram and asked her to take the stage and then rent a buckboard," Buck bragged. "She should be at home waiting for me by now. Much like Rachel would be doing for you."
Teaspoon was about to argue again but his attention as well as Buck's was drawn to a horse in a harness galloping toward them.
"Well that don't look good," Teaspoon said. "I imagine there is a buggy or buckboard that is missing their horse somewhere ahead."
Buck kicked his horse into a run and Teaspoon did too. They were not far from the fork in the road to Buck's farm. As they rounded the corner an overturned buckboard came into view. Buck and Teaspoon slowed their horses to get a better view of the accident. Buck looked the scene over from where their horses stood and saw something familiar.
"Oh, no," Buck said weakly. He tried not to go into shock at the sight in front of him.
He kicked his horse into a gallop. His mind was paralyzed with fear so his body took over. Paulina's crumpled form was lying in the road underneath an overturned buckboard. The wailing of a small child could be heard and the sound caused Buck to spur his horse faster. He jumped down from his horse as soon as he arrived at the wagon. Paulina was shielding their daughter from the weight of the wagon that had pinned them underneath it. The little girl was quietly sobbing asking for her mother to wake. Buck's whole world stopped as tried to figure out how to save his family.
Buck would barely remember jumping from his horse later, but his feet found the ground and he stumbled on his way to running to them.
"Paulina?" he cried as he crouched next to her. His hands were hesitant to touch her. He did not want her to be real. If she were real that would mean he might lose her.
"I'll go get the boys and the doc," Teaspoon said and he and his horse became nothing more than a cloud of dust.
Buck finally let himself touch Paulina's light sandy brown hair. The tears in Buck's eyes started to cloud his vision. She was real and she was breathing, but she was hurt. Buck blinked the tears away. "Paulina?" he repeated. "Please wake up."
Paulina was still and did not stir and Buck's attention turned to the sobbing and screaming of his little girl. The girl was somehow being shielded from the wreckage by Paulina's thin body. Buck took care to remove Lark's tiny squirming body from underneath Paulina. They had just celebrated their little girl's second birthday the month before. He looked her over as she cried and when he found her to be mostly uninjured, he comforted his little girl. She had some scrapes and bruises but that seemed to be all. Lark grabbed a hold of his shirt and wouldn't let go.
"Shhh, Llittle One," Buck soothed. "Papa's here." He stroked his daughter's hair and held her firmly.
"Mama!" Lark sobbed over and over into Buck's shirt.
Buck began to rock his daughter while trying to assess Paulina. As she started to quiet, Buck moved Lark over to his hip so he could free his arm to check on his wife. There was no way he could free Paulina from the wreckage even if he set Lark down. Buck would have to wait for Teaspoon to return with help.
Buck stroked Paulina's hair. He needed her to wake up. "Please, open your eyes," he pleaded. She did not move for what seemed like hours but was perhaps only a minute or two. "Paulina?" he asked as her eyes started to flutter open. "Sweetheart, can you hear me?"
"Buck?" Paulina breathed.
"You're going to be alright," Buck said calmly as he continued to stroke her hair.
"Horse spooked, I lost control," Paulina said drowsily and then her pale brown eyes snapped open. "Lark! Where's my baby!"
"Shhh shh, calm down," Buck said trying to hold Paulina down with his one free hand, "she's right here. She's alright. You saved her."
"I need to see her," Paulina insisted.
Buck shifted his body so Paulina could see Lark. The little girl turned her head and reached for her mother with her hands.
"You need to lie still," Buck advised. "Teaspoon went to get some help and the doctor. They should be back soon.
"Teaspoon was here?" Paulina asked.
"We were just on our way home from the posse," Buck said trying to keep her awake.
Buck heard hoof beats and the sounds of wagon wheels and looked up at the road. Teaspoon was on his way back and had brought the doctor as well as Kid and Jimmy back with him. Buck stood back and watched helplessly as his family worked to free his wife. He clutched his little girl as tightly as she clutched him. All he could do was watch. He could hear more people coming. He suspected Rachel would be along with a buckboard to take Paulina home. It was closer to his house than it was back to town.
Buck handed Lark off to Rachel and he helped Teaspoon, Jimmy, and Kid lift the wagon up while the doctor carefully pulled Paulina from underneath it. Buck took Lark back from Rachel and freed her up to help the doctor make Paulina comfortable in the back of her buckboard. Rachel offered to take Lark back, but Buck didn't want to let her go. Instead he rode back to his home clutching his baby girl the whole way.
As Buck sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at his wife, he felt the emotion well up inside him. The doctor had just left. He said there was no reason to think she would not get better. He said that it was up to her now and it would just take time. He was still worried but something in the way the doctor had reassured him made him feel better. Paulina had to be alright. Buck did not dare to think otherwise. They had been through too much to be together.
Their two year old daughter, Lark was curled up in his lap asleep. Her arms were still holding onto his shirt, refusing to let go. She was mostly uninjured in the accident. She had a few cuts and bruises but that was all. Paulina had shielded the little girl from harm. She had said as much.
Buck had to believe Paulina would be alright as well. He should have met with them at the train. It was the original plan. He could have protected them. Instead he had agreed to go on a posse with Teaspoon and left them a message to rent a buckboard. She had driven a buckboard hundreds of times before. This time shouldn't have been different, but it was.
It had been hours now. The doctor had left for the night, but Buck knew the rest of his family would be keeping vigil in the downstairs of his house. He knew Rachel would come up soon and try to get him to rest or try to take his baby from him. Lark would wake and wouldn't let herself be torn from her father. Buck wouldn't let her go either. He couldn't, not when he'd been so close to losing her.
Paulina was sleeping so peacefully and for that Buck was grateful. She was a beautiful woman. More beautiful than Buck thought he deserved. She was just as beautiful as the day he met her, maybe more.
Buck had been waiting for a train. He would be traveling from Saint Louis to Kansas City and from there he would take the overland stage to Rock Creek. He was on his way back from visiting Jenny Tompkins. He had thought that maybe she was the woman for him, but that turned out not to be the case. They had fine time catching up with each other, but nothing really sparked between them. Jenny had changed since leaving Sweetwater. She was not the same woman Buck remembered. Buck probably would not have even been on that trip if it was not for the nagging of all his family. Teaspoon and Rachel had settled down with each other and someday, maybe, Teaspoon would make an honest woman of her. Kid and Lou had a couple of their three children by then –Peter and Ellie. Their second boy, Seth was on the way. They all insisted that Buck should look for a wife. They could tell how lonely he was. He knew they were right, but he did not have any prospects in Rock Creek.
The train was not leaving for several hours, but he had nothing else to occupy his time. He had sat for a good hour waiting for it already. The wooden bench at the station was hard and unforgiving, but he sat and waited. Most of the travelers didn't seem to notice and the ones who did were usually too busy to do much more than scowl at his presence. He was about to take a walk when he saw her. Her skin was pale and delicate, but her eyes and her smile were what immediately caught his attention. They seemed playful, pleasant, and inviting. Her hair was tucked underneath a feathery bonnet save for a few curly tendrils that framed her face. They bounced about her face as she rushed toward a train. The conductor had just called "All Aboard!" In her hurry, the leather strap on her suitcase snapped. Her bag fell open and her belongings were strewn along the dirty floor of the train station. Buck, of course, got up to help her. She was blushing as she frantically gathered her things. The train started to pull away as she screamed for it to wait. It was no use. She plopped down on the ground in defeat and looked over at Buck who handed her a few articles of clothing that she had dropped. She was wearing a deceptively nice traveling dress. It had all the features of someone with money, but upon a close look, the edges were revealed to be frayed and tattered. Her shoes were also well worn. She almost looked to be trying to pass herself off as someone or something she wasn't.
"This just isn't my day," she said kindly. "My name's Paulina Talbot."
"Buck Cross," he replied. "I'm sorry about your day. Perhaps I could help make it better."
"Oh I don't know about that, Mr. Cross," Paulina said. "I just met you."
"Well, I can at least carry your bag for you while you make travel arrangements," Buck offered.
"I would be so grateful," she said. "Perhaps you can bring my things over to that bench."
Buck smiled. It was the very bench he was sitting on. His belongings were already there.
"I'd be happy to," he said smiling. There was something about Paulina that he liked very much. He situated her bag next to the bench and made room for her to sit.
"I don't know what I'm going to do now," she said. "That was the last train this week to Chicago. Where are you headed?"
"Kansas City," Buck said, "and then on to Rock Creek."
"Is that where you're from, Mr. Cross?" Paulina asked.
"Please, call me Buck," he answered, "and yes it is where I am from. Are you from Chicago?"
"No, but I was hoping to make a fresh start there," Paulina said. "Is Rock Creek a nice place?"
Buck smiled and gave a small laugh. "It is a lot smaller than Chicago," he remarked.
Paulina looked thoughtful. "A small town could be exactly what I'm looking for," she said.
They had talked for well over an hour and Buck had even sprung for some refreshments. Paulina had decided during their chat that she would buy a ticket to Kansas City and possibly even travel as far as Rock Creek. It was the start of their love story. It was one that Buck and Paulina had told to Buck's friends at a family supper, almost four years ago.
"That's where I first fell in love with your smile," Buck whispered to the silence.
Paulina's smile was one of the most beautiful things about her. All through their time at the train station, Buck kept trying to make her smile just so he could see it. Her smile would make her eyes sparkle. No one could be unhappy around Paulina when she smiled.
A/N: I got attacked by a bunny. This story took up half my November and I'm done with it now. I just need to make sure all my matches are arranged so I will be posting chapters daily from now on (there are nine). I have to thank Mercy and Paola for their help with this story. They have given me wonderful feedback and if it weren't for them I wouldn't be nearly as happy with how this story turned out.